State Plan for Employees Launched July 2017OregonSaves, a state-run retirement program for employees of businesses who do not currently offer a retirement savings plan, officially launched in July when 11 employers selected for the first pilot program began payroll deductions for participating employees.

November 15, 2017 was the deadline for employers with 100 or more employees in Oregon to either register to facilitate OregonSaves or certify that they are exempt from the program. If an employer missed the deadline, they should reach out to the OregonSaves Client Service team at (844) 661-1256 or clientservices@oregonsaves.com.

Employers that registered to facilitate OregonSaves are now in the process of entering their employees in the system, and their employees should expect to receive notice from OregonSaves about the program immediately after. Payroll deductions are expected to begin for employees in December and January.

BackgroundIn 2015, the Oregon Legislative Assembly enacted legislation, which created the Oregon Retirement Savings Board. House Bill 2960 tasked the Board with the establishment and oversight of a state-run retirement savings program providing employees with a flexible opportunity to save through payroll deductions and the ease of getting started with automatic enrollment and annual contribution escalation.

Pilot programsEmployees in the pilot program of OregonSaves have already saved more than $146,000 since July. Approximately 72 percent of the nearly 2,500 eligible employees have chosen to stay in the program. Most employees are contributing the standard 5 percent of their gross pay. Currently, the average contribution rate is 4.7 percent, and the average contribution is approximately $57 per pay period.

DetailsEmployers must collect (payroll deduction) and remit the payroll withholdings each pay period to the State. This will create additional paperwork for employers to deal with staff. There is no cost; the plan is funded into IRA's.

TimelineOregonSaves is scheduled to roll out in phases starting with larger employers. The registration deadlines for employers are as follows:

a. An employer employing 100 or more employees: November 15, 2017 (audit required)b. An employer employing 50 to 99 employees: May 15, 2018c. An employer employing 20 to 49 employees: December 15, 2018d. An employer employing 10 to 19 employees: May 15, 2019e. An employer employing 5 to 9 employees: November 15, 2019f. An employer employing 4 or fewer employees: May 15, 2020

​Enrollment Process​Ten days before the next deadline, employers who have yet to respond will receive a reminder notice. Employers are encouraged to register or certify as soon as possible to avoid the rush at the end. If an employer needs assistance, they should reach out to the OregonSaves Client Service team at (844) 661-1256 or clientservices@oregonsaves.com.Employers who register to facilitate OregonSaves will have 30 days after registration to add all of their employees to the system. Once employees are added, the system sends them notice about the program. Employees then have 30 days to decide if they want to participate. After that 30-day period ends, employees who haven’t opted out will be automatically enrolled, and payroll deductions should begin on the first pay date afterward.For example: Company A registers on Nov. 15. They need to enter their employees by Dec. 15. If they upload their employees on Dec. 15, their employees will have until Jan. 14 to decide if they want to participate. Company A will then begin payroll deductions on the next pay date after Jan. 14, such as Feb. 1 if they pay employees on the first day of the month.

RulesThe Oregon Retirement Savings Board has officially completed a second stage of rulemaking, which considered technical matters that were not in the first set of rules for OregonSaves, such as the process for employment services. The second stage of rulemaking began on June 14, 2017 and included three rulemaking advisory committee meetings. After holding a public rulemaking hearing on September 19, 2017 and considering input and feedback from a wide range of stakeholders, the Board filed updated rules with the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office on October 24, 2017. The updated rules have been posted on the Board’s website at Oregon.gov/retire/Pages/Rules.aspx. ​More information and a complete list of frequently asked questions for employers and employees can be found at Oregonsaves.com/home/overview/faqs.html. | ORLAFAQ’s about OregonSaves

Working together with the Lottery, we can do good things!​For industry members offering Oregon’s Video Lottery, Responsible Gambling training by the Oregon Lottery helps you maintain a positive business environment by promoting healthy habits among customers who patronize your business.

Employers

A staff trained in Responsible Gambling:

Demonstrates that you care about the customers you serve.

Knows how to engage patrons who may be gambling in an unhealthy way by providing accurate information about how Lottery games work.

Is empowered to do what’s best for your guests and your business with the training to direct those who seek a change in their gambling to available resources and support.

Employees

With Responsible Gambling training you can:

Show prospective employers that you care about the health of the customers that patronize their business.

Demonstrate that you are committed to working in a service environment. Your training could be the extra bit of background that sets you apart from other applicants to land a position.

Learn ways to spark meaningful conversations with customers, whether they gamble or not.

Save the time of completing the training later on as a part of the on-boarding process.

The restaurant and lodging industries face some of the most difficult workplace safety challenges. To help protect the more than 167,000 workers engaged in making Oregon’s dining and overnight experiences picture perfect, the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association (ORLA) and SAIF are joining forces. With SAIF’s decades of workplace safety experience, it’s an ideal match—and today it became official.

With an eye toward making those workplaces safer and healthier, SAIF’s board of directors voted today to approve a group program for eligible ORLA members. ORLA’s board of directors previously approved the endorsement and group program on May 23, 2017.

“We are proud to partner with ORLA on our shared mission of making Oregon the safest and healthiest place to work,” said Christy Witzke, vice president of marketing, sales, and communications at SAIF. “We’re impressed by ORLA’s longstanding commitment to improving their members’ safety programs, and are excited to work more closely with them in this area.”

The partnership will give eligible ORLA members, representing 11,000 foodservice and lodging establishments, a workers’ compensation group discount. The program is still in development and has to be validated by NCCI and approved by DCBS. The anticipated launch of the program is January 2018.

"With the onset of rising costs, it is in the best interest of our industry to create this new program to assist hospitality employers in finding new ways to save money,” said Jason Brandt, president and CEO of ORLA. "We are excited about the group discount program and the new opportunities we will have to jointly promote safer workplaces with our partners at SAIF.”

For more information about the new program, contact John Hamilton, COO for ORLA, at 503.682.4422.

About SAIFSAIF is Oregon's not-for-profit workers' compensation insurance company. For more than 100 years, we've been taking care of injured workers, helping people get back to work, and striving to make Oregon the safest and healthiest place to work.